the only
two buildings to note. A bronze statue of Francis, Duke of Bedford,
executed by Westmacott, stands on the south side of the Square; this
faces a similar statue of Fox in Bloomsbury Square.

The Square seems to have been peculiarly attractive to men high up in
the profession of the law. Sir Samuel Romilly, the great law reformer,
lived here until his sad death in 1818; he committed suicide in grief at
the loss of his wife. In the same year his neighbour Charles Abbot,
afterwards first Baron Tenterden, was made Lord Chief Justice. He was
buried at the Foundling Hospital by his own request. In 1793 Alexander
Wedderburn (first Baron Loughborough and first Earl of Rosslyn), also a
resident in the Square, was appointed Lord Chancellor. After this he
probably moved to the official residence in Bedford Square.

Frederick D. Maurice was at No. 5 from 1856 to 1862. Sir Thomas Lawrence
lived for twenty years at No. 65, and while he was executing the
portrait of Platoff, the Russian General, the Cossacks, mounted on small
white horses, stood on guard in the Square before his door.

Bloomsbury Square was at first called Southampton Square, and the sides
were known by different names--Seymour Row, Vernon Street, and Allington
Row. The north side was occupied by Bedford House. It is considerably
older than its large neighbour on the north, and is mentioned by Evelyn
in his Diary, on February 9, 1665. In Queen Anne's reign it was a most
fashionable locality. The houses suffered greatly during the Gordon
Riots, especially Lord Mansfield's house, in the north-east corner,
which was completely ruined internally, and in which a most valuable
library was destroyed, while Lord and Lady Mansfield made their escape
from the mob by a back-door. Pope refers to the Square as a fashionable
place of resort. Among the names of famous residents we have Sir Richard
Steele, Richard Baxter, the Nonconformist divine, Dr. Akenside, and Sir
Hans Sloane. The elder D'Israeli, who compiled "Curiosities of
Literature," lived in No. 6; he came here in 1818, when his famous son
was a boy of fourteen.

The College of Preceptors stands on the south side. The Pharmaceutical
Society, established in 1841, first took a house in the Square in that
year. It was incorporated by royal charter two years later, and in 1857
the two adjacent houses in Great Russell Street were added to the
premises, which include a library and museum. There is also at No. 30
the